New Delhi: The number of landmine victims in the country has increased significantly in the last one year, according to a report.

At least 170 new casualties of victim-activated explosive devices have been identified where 41 people were killed and 129 injured, according to the Landmine Monitor Report 2008 published by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

Out of the total victims, 89 were civilians while 81 were military personnel.

This casualty rate is much higher than reported in Landmine Monitor 2007,which identified 107 casualties.

"Last year, landmine and IED casualties dropped worldwide. But in India, casualties of civilians and military personnel have increased. This is an irony," said Binalakshmi Nepram, Secretary General of Control Arms Foundation of India

Most deaths have been reported in Jammu and Kashmir along the LoC and the international border with Pakistan, Manipur and Chhattisgarh.

"The Government of India has a responsibility for its people and needs to take a much more proactive role to control this before more innocent lives are lost," she said.

Until now, India has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. On 5 December 2007,India abstained from voting on UN General Assembly Resolution 62/41 calling for universalisation of the Mine Ban Treaty.

India is among the small number of countries that have abstained on all the previous annual General Assembly resolutions supporting the treaty.

Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI), along with several other organisations, has been working on the issue of landmines in India for several years.

The Landmine Monitor reported an estimated stockpile for India of between 40 lakh and 50 lakh anti-personnel mines, one of the worlds largest stockpiles.

India is one of the few countries still producing anti-personnel mines. Though, India has often said it has never exported or imported anti-personnel mines, five Mine Ban Treaty States Parties have reported Indian-made mines in their stockpiles.

The report said non-state armed groups (NSAGs) continue to use command-detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Kashmir in 2007 and 2008,some of which caused civilian causalities.

The Communist Party of India-Maoist and its armed wing in Central India have continued the use command-detonated IEDs, it said.

While incidents involving the IEDs in the area were frequently reported as "landmines" in the media and specialised reports on the conflict, Landmine Monitor could not identify any incidents clearly involving victim-activated mines or explosive devices, although authorities have reported recovering of pressure mines, the report added.

Source : DNA